Here Come the Cookies!

At Silver Creek Family Church we believe that kids are our future. That's true in our church, in our community and ultimately in our world. Silver Creek's kids are BUSY, they are involved in sports, plays, productions, boys and girl scouts, bands, choirs...the list goes on and on! It is great to see kids taking advantage of opportunities to use their gifts, fine tune their skills and learn about respect and community.

A few weeks ago Brent and I were talking about our students and kids. We know that they are busy and many times have short time lines for fundraising. As a church family we want the opportunity to invest in the kids that we know and love. We also know that it is very difficult to turn down kids when approached about supporting any number of different causes. We want you to know that we have decided to create a system to help out our little fundraisers as well as to simplify and relieve the pressures that can potentially be caused by being approached for help.

Starting this Sunday, we will have a table available in the gym. It will be setup near the room divider, in the middle of the gym, with a brightly colored table cover on it. If your student or child has a fundraiser that they would like to advertise, they are welcome to be at this table, all we need from you is a heads up. In order to accommodate your kids and their needs, we will have this table available on a first come first serve basis and will be available to kids with parental supervision. Signs can be setup and supplies can be stored under the table. We think it would be best to limit the space at the table to three groups so please email either Elizabeth or Brent and let us know if you need a spot and we will put you on the list for that coming Sunday.

If you have any questions on this new system, please don't hesitate to ask! We think it will be a great way to support and organize these needs! Thanks for supporting Silver Creek's students and kids! We think they are great and they are a light in our community!

Elizabeth & Brent

LENT: Opportunities for Reflection

This past week has been a whirlwind of emotion as I have been shaken and astonished by the overwhelming realization of all that is happening in Japan. The chaos of life is often beyond what we can comprehend and I am amazed as I see people coping and managing to face each day by leaning on God for His strength and guidance. He will not leave us or forsake us.

I was at Women's Retreat last weekend so Thursday, I finally had the opportunity to listen to Brent's sermon from Sunday. If you were gone and didn't get a chance to hear him speak, in person, I would highly recommend you visit our webpage to listen to his intro to "Ashes to Fire". This sermon series will challenge you and encourage you to spend more intentional time with God. His message was real, relevant and necessary. God wants us to be in relationship with Him and He desires to journey with us as he conforms us into being the person he desires us to be. This week Brent talked about the fact that we are merely dust, without God, and in order for us to fully engage the journey that God has for us we need to ask for forgiveness and allow Him to purify all parts of who we are. If we will allow God to burn away those sinful areas of our lives then we will be able to realize all that God has for us and become His instruments of fire.

Our Reflection services were a success this week. We will continue to open up the Worship Center every Monday and Friday from 7-8:30PM and during this time you will be led through a half an hour of prayer and contemplation. Each week will be tied to Sunday's sermon and we believe if you will commit this half hour to praying and focusing on God that you will start to understand His heart better and apply his Word to your life in a fresh and new way. Please don't let these opportunities pass you by, we know that you will find them to be rewarding and worth your time.

Enjoy your weekend and see you Sunday!

Elizabeth

Giving Up For More

Those of you that watch the news probably saw pictures or videos from the festivities that happened in New Orleans this past Tuesday. It was the annual Mardi Gras celebration of Fat Tuesday. Most people realize that Fat Tuesday has a connection with the ancient church practice known as Lent. Any of you from a good Catholic background either participated in Lent or had friends and family that did. If you grew up in a Protestant church or had no connection to church, Lent was likely more confusing and odd than it was spiritual.

At Silver Creek we tend to lean toward and strive to be innovative, relevant and energetic. Those aren't words that are typically used to describe Lent. So, when Silver Creek sets out each spring to tie into Lent in some fashion, it might be a bit of a surprise or confusing. In this blog, I won't take time to describe all that Lent has been over the centuries or even completely explain Silver Creek’s view of Lent. Here's a real brief description and reason for why we embrace this ancient practice. Lent provides a period of several weeks to deeply reflect on what Jesus' sacrifice on the cross means for us, typically connected with setting something aside in our lives for a time to motivate, encourage and remind us to reflect. At Silver Creek we focus more on what we're gaining through Lent, than what we are giving up.

Let me tell you briefly what we are offering this year to benefit you and help you gain something spiritually during Lent. Each week during our Sunday services, there will be a Reflection Guide that you can take home. The Reflection Guide will focus on the main theme of that Sunday's message, giving you scripture to read, thoughts to reflect on, and prayers to consider. Each week will have a new guide but each guide will be used for the entire week. In direct connection to the guide, the church will be open for Reflection Services during the week. Each service will contain times of audio and video guided prayer, scripture & reflection. It will essentially be the same content as the Reflection Guide but with the addition of community, communion, and interactive elements in a quiet, contemplative setting. The 25 minute Reflection Service will repeat itself six times during the week, three on each Monday and Friday evenings, starting on the hour and half hour from 7-8:30pm. Child care will not be provided so please plan accordingly to ensure that we are able to maintain a place for a reverent environment.

I know this might be a new experience and practice for many of us. If you've been sensing any desire to gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and/or what He wants to mean and be in your life, plan now to participate in these Reflective Services. They begin next week and will run through the 8th of April.

Looking forward to what God will do these next weeks,

Brent

Changing Our World

This past year we, as a church, have spent a lot of time thinking and dreaming about our passions. We have had to be strategic about what we do as an organization in order to make the most impact possible. We firmly believe that if people are functioning within their passions they will be productive, impactful and thrive. God gifts us with unique desires and abilities and it is our job to sort out and be open to how He intends for us to use those gifts.

We had two winter camps two weeks ago and at those camps our speaker, Paul Charles, was able to plant some seeds to encourage kids to Change Their World. They were encouraged to find ways to change their world at home, in their relationships with their parents and friends, in their communities and schools and in the global world. They were introduced to the idea of Charity: Water, an organization that is reaching thousands of communities each year and providing the means to clean water for drinking and sanitation. Our kids have come home looking for ways to impact and change their world. We know that at this time we are called to collaborate with Charity: Water. We know that we can and are making impact towards building wells for people that don't have clean drinking water. We support our kids and students in finding creative ways to help this organization and we are excited to see what God is going to accomplish through our people, in this coming year.

That being said, we also realize that Charity: Water is a ministry opportunity at Silver Creek and it is something that we are passionate about but it is not the church. As the church, we are also called to be passionate about our local community, to work with our Food Bank to impact Lynnwood and to provide ministries that will change the ways that people think about the church and God.

On April 17th, we have a unique opportunity to impact Lynnwood and our surrounding areas. Plans are well under way in bringing together a team to create a huge INVITE day at Silver Creek. We will be having three HUGE egg hunts and three FUSiON Family Productions. We turned people away last year because we didn't have the room to accommodate them in our two shows, so this year we are doing three. We believe that with effective advertising and incentive to step foot on our property that we will have the opportunity to not only entertain and engage our community but tell them about GOD by using our Family Production to speak into the lives of both children and adults. We want to be Jesus' hands and feet and allow people to see that Christians are real people with real passions. We want them to see that we aren't acting like Christians but we are living as Christians. We're doing life together, caring about those outside our walls, learning to possess Jesus' characteristic and knowing that we are doing exactly what Jesus has called us to do in our world.

Brent and I were discussing how Jesus drew crowds when he was in the peak of his ministry. Time and time again he performed miracles as a way of supporting and drawing a crowd. He fed thousands of people from the basket of a young boy containing two fish and five loaves of bread. He healed the sick and blind and he reached out to the outcasts in the community and showed that He loved them equally and cared for them. He invited children to take his time when religious leaders felt they deserved it. Jesus thought of people in a brand new and unique way. He challenged his followers to do the same and He was bold about how He got the attention of those he came in contact with.

We are called to live as He did and not be afraid to use any and all resources at our finger tips to reach those in our community and world. This April we hope that you will team with us at accomplishing that very thing. Leaving all perceptions of what a church should or shouldn't do and boldly reach into our community, loving on those that cross our paths and being true representatives of Jesus by following his example. We need your help to do this. Please prayerfully consider where you can serve and help with our April 17th Egg Hunt.

You are the church and we need you!

Pastor Elizabeth

Connectuary's Last Days

Recently during a discussion, someone mentioned to me that a building was constructed in the 80's. I responded, if that is the case the building wasn't really all that old, forgetting it's already 2011. Then I did the math. At best the building is at least 22 years old, or maybe even 31. Time always seems to go so fast. Days go by quickly, weeks fly by, each month seems almost over about the time it starts. Even when the month is 59 days long.

Connectuary is Silver Creeks revision to the traditional calendar. Combining January and February, challenging each of us to look for more ways to Connect with each other, during these first 59 days of the year. There are some great stories of people getting away on short vacations together, groups gathering for dinner, many conversations of coffee and board game nights (my personal favorite).

As we move into March and April we will begin to adjust our focus to reaching out, into our community and inviting people to discover what we've found to be true about Jesus and the help that Silver Creek can be in developing a life based on Jesus. The events we host will be huge, last years Egg Hunt/FUSiON saw over 900 people on campus. The spiritual implications will be enourmous as we celebrate Easter. There will be much effort and energy given by most of us to successfully invite our community.

All of the this effort and energy will leave little time for us to get together just to connect and spend time with one another. It's important that we use these last days of CONNECTUARY to make that happen. Even though I may sound like a furniture sales announcer, these are the final days, don't delay, make it happen today, deals like these won't last forever. Ok, maybe a bit dramatic and the deals thing was a little to much. But really, take advantage of these last days of February and spend some time with others from Silver Creek.

Enjoy the rest of your week and hope to see you Sunday,

Brent

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It's not Christmas but for many of kids and students this weekend the winter wonderland they dream of will be a reality. About 40 campers and 20 adults are headed to Leavenworth for our two winter retreats, Escape and BreakAway. You might be staying here where the ground is clear but you can play a huge role in making the weekend a success. Here are some important ways you can be praying for the retreats.

• It's a winter retreat and there will be snow. That's great news for everything except the driving. Pray that God will keep our drivers alert and all the vehicles safe as they travel.
• Paul Charles, our ISA head coach and summer Intern is traveling back from Philadelphia to be our speaker. He will be challenging both camps with practical ways that they can be Changing Our World. Pray that God will speak to the hearts of all that attend.
• There will be lots of inner tubing and games in the snow. Pray for fun and safety as campers enjoy all that camp has to offer.
• Pray that all adults going will get plenty of sleep. Oh, who are we kidding, just pray that the adults going can function with little to no sleep.
• These camps are a part of our January and February focus on CONNECTUARY. We design camps to develop and strengthen relationships that will carry over to daily living, helping each of us become stronger in our lives with Christ. Please pray the Connections will take place.
  

We appreciate all your prayers and will praying for a fantastic Sunday morning at Silver Creek.

Pastor Brent and Pastor Elizabeth

Oh Baby!

Child dedication is a statement and a commitment made by the parents. A commitment to raise their child in a way that will instill godly principals and character in the child’s life. Parents that choose to have their child dedicated are saying "God we want to be the best parents we can be." "God we want You to make us and mold us into the parents our child needs us to be." Their commitment is to not only bring honor to Christ in the way that they live but that they will demonstrate what it means to live daily for Christ.

To the Church, the parents are saying, "we are going to do our best but we desire your help." "Please model for our child what it means to people of integrity, grace and mercy. Please volunteer to help in Children’s ministry, so that our child is equipped to become an adult that loves and serves God." As a church it's important we tell the parents with our actions that we will support them as they raise their child.

Child dedication is a special moment where the church and parents stand together, unity in their desire to bring up the child to love Jesus. Silver Creek cares about all individuals at every stage of life. At the same time we see the huge importance to begin training and teaching kids at a young age, how much Jesus loves them and desires to have a relationship with them.

Thanks for partnering with Silver Creek to help this happen for children.